Packaging for jigsaw puzzles and the like



Sept. 9, 1947. WARREN' 2,427,318

PACKAGING FOR JIG SAW'PUZZLES AND THE LIKE Filed April 27; 1944 PatentedSept. 9, 1947 UNITED STATES PATEN OFFICE;

PACKAINGi-FOR J IGSA W LP-UZZIJESM AND THE LIKE- Donald M. Warren, LaFayette, Trfd.

Application April 27, 1944,,SerialNo. 532,936

2 Claims. (Cl. 206 46') This invention relatesto the packaging ofsheet-like items, such as typified by jig saw puz- 'zles in theirproperly assembled condition, pictures or like flat sheet members.

The main objects of the invention are to provide an inexpensive butnevertheless efficient and attractive packaging for articles of thecharacter indicated, and other objects and advantages of the inventionwill be understood by reference to the following specification andaccompanying drawing, wherein there is illustrated. a package embodyinga selected form of the invention.

In the drawing,

Fig. l is a perspective illustrating the improved package;

Fig. 2 is a section on the line 2-2 of 'Fig. 1, but on an enlargedscale, and wherein the thickness of the various parts is exaggerated forpurposes of illustration; Fig. 3 is a plan of from which the body of theimproved package is formed, and I Figs. 4, 5 and 6 are fragmentarysectional views illustrating various modifications of certain details ofconstruction.

In the drawing, the improved package illustrated consists of a mainpaper board body In comprising a back or bottom wall II, and inwardlyturned-over margins I2, l3, l4 and. 15. lhe turned-over margins arepreferably adhesively united to the inside or upper surface of thebottom ll, adhesive being preferably applied between the meeting facesof downwardly and outwardly refolded edge portions, such asindicated atI6,of the margins l2, l3, M and I5, and the bottom H. The refolded edgeportions IB serve, in effect, to thicken the inner edges of the inwardlyfolded margins 12, I 3, M and 15 so as to provide a pocket or receptacleH of sufficient depth to accommodate the thickness of a jig saw a cornerportion of a blank l picture puzzle l8, or the like, which is to bepackaged. As shown, the margins l2, l3, l4 and I5 assume a slightlyinclined position from their inner to their outer edges so that the saidmargins present a more or less beveled frame effect around'the packagedpicture or other product.

A wrapper '19, preferably of Cellophane or other transparent sheetmaterial is applied over the 'top surface of the package, portions ofthe wrapper being carried around the edges of the package and secured onthe back thereof. 'The wrapper l9 may be of such size that portions maybe folded into mutually overlapping relation, as indicated at 20 inFig.2, to th'erebyalso compltely-cover'theiback o'f thepackage, as wellas V the front thereof. Economy. respect of the covering; may, however,be attained. by providing relatively narrow marginal portions ofthewrapper sheet to. be foldedunder the. margins of the package and.adhesively united to. the back thereof.

In some cases, one ofthe-inwardly folded margins of the package .may bemade somewhat wider than the other,fto facilitate the application oftitles, instructions, trade-marks or otherv matter to the package. In.Fig. 1,,the margin I2 is shown as being of .considerably greater widththan the other margins. However, such printed matter may be applied tothepackage by. imprinting directly on the Cellophane wrapper, byenclosing a printed sheet placed. on the top of the packaged item 18 wastoflbe. visible through the wrapper l9,. and by other means of thatcharacter.

The body of the packagacomprising the back H, the inturned margins I2,1-3, 14 and I5, and theoutwardly refolded edge. portions l6 may beformed from a suitable grade. of paper board. The blank employed for.forming the structure illustrated in Fig. 1 will embody details. such asrepresentedin Fig. 3,,wherein broken lines 21 represent suitable cut,score or other fold lines on which the marginal. portions may be foldedinwardly, and wherein broken lines 22 represent similar fold line-sabout which the edge portions It may be downwardly andoutwardlyrefolded. In instances whereinthe marginal portions are tobe ofuniform width around the entire package, the margin 12 would, of course,be appropriately reduced in width.

The paper board blank from which the package body is made may haveeither or both of its surfaces suitably finished to provide the packagewith the desired finish and attractive appearance. Suitably coloredboard may, of course, be emplayed, or thin paper or other coveringmaterial may be applied. One method of covering the package body toprovide an attractive finish is represented in l. In that arrangement, asheet 23 of suitably finished paper is pasted, or otherwise secured, tothe bottomsurfa-ce of the blank which will form the package body. Theblank is then subjected to the operation by which scoring, such asthat-indicated at 24 and '22 in Fig. 3, is effected. When the finishingsheet thus applied, the marginal portion-such as 14, is covered on itsfront surface but the inner :and outer edges -24 and -25 of the marginalportions will -i-eveal the naturalcolor of the paper board smoothe-scoring operation willrsever the covering sheet 23, and permitseparation thereof along the score lines when the parts are folded. Thisseparation of the finished sheet at the fold lines may be madeadvantageous in the preparation of the package, if properly selectedcolored stock is employed so that a desirable and distinctive colorededge will be presented at the places indicated.

Another method of covering the body of the package is illustrated inFig. 5. In that arrangement, the paper board blank which forms the bodyis preliminarily scored and folded, and a covering sheet 26 thereafterapplied. The covering sheet 26 preferably extends over the entire bottomsurface of the package and is folded upwardly around and extended overthe marginal portions and then downwardly over the inside edges thereof,as indicated at 21, and inwardly over the inside or upper surface of thebottom wall ii. The inwardly extending covering portion 28 need notcover the entire inside surface of the body member or tray since thepackaged article itself covers that surface. The marginal portion 28should, of course, be extended inwardly a distance sufficient to extendunder the margins of the packaged article so as to present a finishedappearance. At the corners of the package, the covering sheets will, ofcourse, be cut to conform to the meeting ends of the respectivelyadjacent margins, and it is preferable, although not essential, that thecovering sheet be securely pasted to the paper board member throughouttheir interengaging areas.

For positioning a picture or other sheet-like article within the traystructure, the bottom member of the device may be diagonally slittednear the corners of its receiving area, to permit corners of the pictureto be inserted in the slots substantially as in'conventional picturealbums. Another method of fastening the packaged article in place is torestrict the adhesive attachment of the outwardly refolded edgeportions, such as indicated at l6a in Fig. 6, to an outer portion onlyof the width of such outwardly refolded edge portion. As shown in Fig.6, the outwardly refolded portion l6a is adhesively attached, asindicated at 29, for only about one-half its width so that picturereceiving space, as indicated at 38, may be provided between the bottomll of the package and the innermost portion of the refolded edge partI6a. The marginal portion of the article to be packaged, ma be insertedin the space 30, and more or less clamped between the bottom of thepackage and said marginal portion, and thereby held in fixed position inthe package.

The described packaging structure is especially adapted to the packagingof fairly large pictures, for example, pictures which measure in theneighborhood of ten inches (10") by fifteen inches The inwardly foldedmargins and the outwardly refolded'edge portions serve to effectivelyreinforce and stiffen the package body or tray so that the finishedpackage may conveniently be handled like any stiff sheet of material. Itwill be observed that the reinforcing effect thus obtained adapts thepackage especially to the packaging of so-called jig saw puzzle pictureswherein the packaged picture is cut into a large number of small pieces,which will readily separate from each other so that the packaged productitself has no substantial capacity for maintaining itself in sheet form.

In some instances, the depth of the receptacle may be made substantiallyequal to the thickness of the article to be'packaged. However, this isnot essential. In'the cutting of paper board jig saw puzzles, cutting isusually made to extend almost completely, but not quite through thepicture, so that a very slight bond remains. The bond is usuallysufficient to prevent the various parts of the puzzle from being jarredout of place merely as an incident to handling, so long as the pictureis held substantially fiatwise against a supporting sheet, as occurs inthe described package. The transparent cover sheet serves to preventmovement of the packaged picture in the receptacle sufficient to causeseparation of the parts thereof; hence, the package described iseffective to maintain the picture puzzle in its fully assembledcondition, so that the prospective purchaser may examine the picture heis about to purchase, in its full size.

The described arrangement eliminates the requirement of a small sizereproduction of the picture to be applied to the cover of theconventional box in which puzzles have heretofore been packaged inbroken-up condition. If desired, the picture puzzle may be assembled inthe tray, which afiords aconvenient means whereb the puzzle, even inpartially assembled condition, may be moved from place to place asrequired. In some instances, a copy of the picture may be applied to thebottom of the tray, if desired, to provide a guide or check means forthe person solving the puzzle.

Other advantages of the described arrangement will be apparent to thoseconversant with the production and packaging of devices of the characterreferred to, and to those conversant with the art or pastime ofassembling jig saw picture puzzles.

Puzzles packaged in the described manner may be stacked one uponanother, the weight of the superposed puzzles being transmittedprimarily through the marginal portions of the package, the thickness ofwhich will usually be somewhat greater than the combined thickness ofthe bottom member and the packaged article. Thus, the packaged articleitself will not be subjected to any material pressure which might tendto cause abrasion of the wrapper and the packaged article; hence, thepackaged article is adequately protected against damage, while, at thesame time, being effectively displayed in the package.

Various modifications of the described structure may be made withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention.

I claim: 7

l. A jig saw picture puzzle or sheet-like article package, comprising apaper board member having a bottom portion and border portions integralwith and foldably connected to said bottom portion, said border portionsbeing respectively folded directly inwardly into substantially fiatwiseposition over adjacent margins or said bottom portion so as to form amarginal frame cooperating with said bottom portion to form a shallowtray, one or more sheet-like articles disposed flatwise on said bottomportion and of such size as to fit within the confines of said frame soas to be thereby held against shifting edgewise on said bottom portion,the depth of said one or more sheet-like articles approximating thedepth of said frame, and transparent, cover means secured to said trayand extending between the opposed frame portions in such relation tosaid bottom portion as to hold said. one or more articles seated on saidbottom portion, V

2. A jigsaw picture puzzle or sheet like article package, comprisingapaper board member. having a bottom portion and border portionsintegral 5 with and foldably connected to said bottom por tion, saidborder portions being respectively folded directly inwardly intosubstantially flatwise position over adjacent margins of said bottomportion so as to form a marginal frame cooperating with said bottomportion to form a shallow tray, said frame having an integrallyconnected inner portion refolded outwardly between said frame and bottomportion and disposed in face to face engagement with said frame andbottom portion, whereby said frame is provided with an inner portionhaving a thickness of approximately twice the thickness of the paperboard employed for making the tray one or more sheet-like articlesdisposed fiatwise on said bottom portion and of such size as to fitwithin the confines of said frame so as to be thereby held againstshifting edgewise on said bottom portion, the depth of said one or moresheet-like articles approximating the depth of said frame, andtransparent cover means secured to said tray and extending between theopposed frame portions in such relation to said 6 bottom portion as tohold said one or more articles seated on said bottom portion.

DONALD M. WARREN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,942,673 Weiner Jan, 9, 19341,450,190 Sonn Apr. 3, 1923 1,939,642 Barnes Dec. 19, 1933 1,492,951Auerb-ach Ma 6, 1924 1,441,437 Lee Jan, 9, 1923 676,373 Simpson June 11,1901 1,077,622 McLellan Nov, 4, 1913 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date6,148 Great Britain Dec. 16, 1909

